Five Pounds

A Novel of Refuge, Defiance, and the Birth of Curious George

The true story behind the world's most beloved children's book is a story the world was never supposed to know.

In June 1940, as Hitler's armies closed on Paris, two German-Jewish refugees fled the city on makeshift bicycles assembled from junkyard scrap. Strapped to a luggage rack, wrapped in oilcloth, was a five-pound manuscript about a mischievous, tailless monkey — the book the world would come to know as Curious George.

Hans and Margret Rey's desperate escape across a collapsing France is one of the great untold dramas of World War II. But their survival hinged on something even more extraordinary: the conscience of a single man.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese Consul-General in Bordeaux, defied a direct order from dictator António de Oliveira Salazar and hand-stamped an estimated 30,000 visas in ten days — the largest rescue action by an individual during the Holocaust. For this, the regime destroyed him. They stripped his title, his pension, his right to practice law. They watched as he sold his estate piece by piece to feed his children. He died in poverty, buried in a borrowed robe.

The dictator commanded armies. But the dictator could not unstamp the paper.

Five Pounds braids the Reys' flight with Mendes's defiance into a riveting narrative that moves from Montmartre to the Spanish border, from a Bordeaux consulate besieged by thousands to the charity ward where a hero died forgotten. It is a novel about the terrible arithmetic of survival — what you carry, what you leave behind, and the five pounds of dead weight that turned out to be worth more than everything else combined.

For listeners of All the Light We Cannot See, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, and The Librarian of Auschwitz — a story that will fundamentally change the way you read Curious George to your children.

©2026 Robert Walker (P)2026 Robert Walker

A story I wish I had known sooner and will now share with my grandchildren

Shame on me for not digging deeper when my kids were little, but this story changed that for me. This audiobook is powerful, emotional, and incredibly well told. Knowing the real history behind Curious George and the journey of Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey adds so much depth to something I once saw as simple and lighthearted.
The bravery of Aristides de Sousa Mendes is unforgettable. The way the story weaves survival, sacrifice, and quiet heroism makes it both heartbreaking and inspiring.
I’ll never read these stories the same way again. And this time, when I read them with my grandchildren, I’ll be able to share the meaning behind them—the courage, the risk, and the humanity that made those books possible. A truly unforgettable listen.

The Background Behind Curious George

This was such a unique and moving listen. Five Pounds gives a powerful and emotional story behind the birth of Curious George, blending history, loss, courage, and hope in a way that kept me deeply interested. Robert Walker takes something familiar and beloved and gives it new depth and meaning. It made me think about the people, pain, and perseverance behind the stories we pass down to children. If you enjoy historical fiction with heart and purpose, this audiobook is well worth listening to

interesting

I like the historical aspect of this story, it made it more intriguing. I really liked Cruoius George when I was a kid and now my own child likes it so it was very dry interesting to hear the story of how it came to be. Overall it kept my attention and the story will stay with me for a while after listening. Usually I don't like AI voices but this was surprisingly good and didn't distract from the story.